The company’s headquarters are in Irvine, California, with studios in Hollywood. It has offices in London and Mumbai, retail stores in Hollywood and New York as well as various authorized resellers and service centers around the world.

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Red Digital Cinema was founded in 2005 by Jim Jannard, who had previously founded Oakley. The company started with the intent to deliver an affordable 4k digital cinema camera.[1]

At the 2006 NAB show, Jannard announced that Red would build a 4K digital cinema camera and began taking pre-orders with more than one thousand people putting down a refundable deposit.

In March 2007, director Peter Jackson completed a camera test of two prototype Red One cameras, which became the 12-minute World War I film Crossing the Line.[2] On seeing the short film, director Steven Soderbergh told Jannard: "I am all in. I have to shoot with this." Soderbergh took two prototype Red ONEs into the jungle to shoot his film.[3]

Red Digital delivered the first Red camera in August 2007. Called the Red One it was able to capture 4K images at up to 60 frames per second in the proprietary Redcode format.

The Red One was arguably the first affordable camera that provided filmmakers customizable features and out-of-the-box functionality with the "feature film quality" known to much more expensive 35mm film cameras.[3][4] By 2016 Red camera prices had raised to become within the most expensive segment of the market, comparable with the price of the 35mm cameras it once sought to represent an affordable digital alternative to.[5]

In 2009, Red released Redcine-X,[6] a post-production workflow for both motion and stills, the R3D Software Development Kit,[7] and introduced the world to the concept of "DSMC" (Digital Stills and Motion Camera).[8]

In 2010, Red offered a sensor upgrade to owners of the original Mysterium sensor to the newer "M-X" sensor. Also in that same year, Red acquired the historic Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, and renamed it "Red Studios Hollywood".[9]

In 2013, Red began taking pre-orders for their newest camera, the Epic Red Dragon.[10]

The Red One was Red Digital Cinema’s first production camera.[11] It was able to capture up to 120 frames per second at 2K resolution and 30 frames per second at 4K resolution.[12] Later an upgrade to new sensor with 14 megapixel sensor was offered.

The DMSC camera system was introduced with the Epic-X as a professional digital stills and motion capture camera with interchangeable lens mounts. After this a new camera line called Scarlet was introduced that provided lower end specifications at a more affordable price. Initially equipped with a 5K imaging sensor, upgrades to a 6K sensor with higher dynamic range were announced later.

The DSMC2 family of cameras was introduced in 2015 as the new form factor for all cameras up to 2020. ("...making a commitment right now that the DSMC2 form factor will stay the same until at least 2020.")[13] Besides smaller size ProRes and DNXhd support were notable additions.

Announced in 2012, the Redray Player was the first stand-alone device capable of providing 4K content to 4K displays. Using a 1TB internal drive to store content, Redray can play 4K, 3D or HD media. Additionally, the player supports 12-bit 4:2:2 precision at 4K resolution.[14]

On August 18, 2008, Red filed a lawsuit against the electronics company LG over its use of the name Scarlet.[16] Red accused LG "...of taking the "Scarlet" brand name from the camera company, despite Red's denial of their request."[17]

On September 23, 2011, Jim Jannard announced that his personal email account was compromised by former Arri executive Michael Bravin.[18] A lawsuit against Arri and Bravin was filed at the end of 2011, and settled and dismissed in 2013.[19]

On June 27, 2012 Red sued Wooden Camera, a manufacturer of third party accessories, for patent infringement.[20]

In February 2013, Red filed for an injunction against Sony, claiming that several of its new CineAlta products, particularly the 4K-capable F65, infringed on patents the company held. They requested that Sony not only be forced to stop selling the cameras, but that they be destroyed as well.[21] Sony filed a countersuit against Red in April 2013, alleging that Red's entire product line infringed on Sony patents. In July 2013, both parties filed jointly for dismissal, and as of July 20, 2013, the case is closed.[22]